


Tell the World I'm Coming Home

by Multishipperlove



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Dalen's Closet, F/M, I'm very much in love with Derrig and his family, Past Keyleth/Vax'ildan (Critical Role), Special 47, and I hope we see him again, maybe a bit of a character study for Keyleth, very short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 19:37:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20452478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multishipperlove/pseuds/Multishipperlove
Summary: Keyleth returns to Zephra after Percy's and Vex'ahlia's wedding, and realises for the first time what dragging Derrig along could mean for him and his family. It changes something for her.





	Tell the World I'm Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> For everyone who reads this and is also waiting for the new chapter of Be Unbroken Or Be Brave Again, I swear I'm working on it. But right now I'm still crying over the wedding and Liam's new character, so this needed to come first. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!

Keyleth spends a few more days with her family before returning back to Zephra with Derrig. He’s assured her several times that he does not mind staying, and for all his awkwardness she knows he actually enjoys the company of Vox Machina, even though he stays back for the most time, doing his best not to intrude. But she doesn’t want to keep him from his family any longer than she already has, and Zephra will need her back eventually.

So they head back. A tree, a quick spell, business as usual.

As soon as they step foot into Zephra, Derrig is surrounded by a small gaggle of children. Wide eyes and excited expressions, all seemingly asking five questions at once. She looks up to see her bodyguard’s wife, looking like she’s been running some errands around town, apparently taking the children with her.

“Will you be alright if I leave you here?” she asks Derrig, kean to get home and into bed before her responsibilities can catch up with her again.

“I feel like I should be the one asking that question,” he answers her amused but nods. “Whatever you wish, Tempest.”

Tempest. She will never get used to that. Or at least not any time soon.

“I will see you tomorrow then. Make sure to spend some time with your family. If you are a bit late tomorrow… well, I’m sure nobody will notice. Kaitiakè, Derrig.” Her tone is warm, but exhausted. She’s sure he doesn’t feel any different.

“Kaitiakè, Tempest,” her travel companion echoes, prompting all four of his children to do the same as they wave her good bye.

Keyleth waves back, gives a polite nod to his wife, and then finally turns in the direction of her own hut.

She’s already a good fifty feet away when she remembers something she forgot to tell him, just a small detail about their council meeting the next day. But when she turns around, the sight she sees gives her pause.

Derrig is still surrounded by his daughters and has his youngest on his arm, all four still excited and trying to get their father’s attention. But at the moment he mostly seems to have eyes for his wife, a bright smile on his face as she apparently fusses over one of his newly aquired scars.

It hits her in that moment. She could have lost Derrig back there, in the fight against Sylas Briarwood. A fight the man had nothing to do with until the council’s decision that she needed someone to watch over her. Four children, too young to have to face the reality of death yet, another woman forced to grieve… and another soul lost to the Raven Queen, all for a war that had never been his to fight in the first place.

She can’t breath, can’t will air into her lungs for what feels like a small eternity. When her body finally obeys her again it leaves her gasping, choking back tears as she sees before her, once again, everything she has lost. Everything someone else could have lost because of her.

It’s that moment where Keyleth swears to herself that she will do whatever it takes to keep Derrig alive. She may not be able to make the council reconsider their decision, and formalities are formalities, but she can at least make sure that this family stays together. That these children don’t have to learn loss at a young age, as she did with her own mother.

Too many people of Zephra had given their lifes in the recent years, now it is her job to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

And after the years on the road with Vox Machina, Keyleth thinks she might need a way to reconnect with her tribe. Maybe Derrig’s family is a good place to start.


End file.
